Jerry Abraham wins 1,200 career match
Kelly Cieslak - KeepersbyKelly.com
2
Indiana Tech INTECH 16-13, 6-9 WHAC
3
Winner Madonna MUVB 20-8, 9-6 WHAC
Indiana Tech INTECH
16-13, 6-9 WHAC
2
Final
3
Madonna MUVB
20-8, 9-6 WHAC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Indiana Tech INTECH 25 18 17 25 14 (2)
Madonna MUVB 17 25 25 19 16 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | Zachary Shore

Abraham wins 1,200th match as @MUCrusadersVB rallies to down Warriors in five

LIVONIA, Mich. – It wasn't easy, but the Madonna University volleyball team finally captured the elusive 1,200 win in program history and in the career of 32-year Head Coach Jerry Abraham with a thrilling 3-2 win over Indiana Tech at the MU Activities Center on Saturday afternoon. An NAIA Hall of Famer, Abraham is the winningest coach in the NAIA with a record of 1,200-217 (.847) and helped build the MU program back in 1987.

The Crusaders move to 20-8 on the season and 9-6 in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play with the Warriors fall to 16-13 overall and 6-9 in the WHAC.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • It was a tail of four sets in the five-game thriller as the team's split the first two in nearly identical fashion. The Crusaders offense struggled in the first and fourth sets as they hit -.057 and .050, respectively, but performed markedly better in the middle games to the tune of a .146 and .368 attack percentage.

  • The fifth set was a thriller as neither offense truly played well. The Fort Wayne, Indiana program darted out to a 6-2 lead in the first to 15 set, but it was the Crusaders who were the first to eight as the Blue and Gold used a 9-1 rally to take an 11-7 lead. Nyla Greer seemed to be the catalyst for the rally as she contributed four blocks and a kill. Seven of the next 10 points went to Indiana Tech to tie the set at 14, but a service error and a Lauren Korth push that was perfectly placed down the line sealed the 1,200th win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

  • Taylor Suurmeyer's 22 kills fell one shy of her career high as she paced MU with a .267 attack percentage and added three blocks (2 solo, 1 assist)

  • Jodie Kelly tallied 15 kills and 16 digs while Korth finished with three kills, 47 assists and 12 digs

  • Greer finished with six blocks (1 solo, five assists) while Alyssa Facione paced the back row defense with 23 digs

  • Olivia Sweeney added 12 digs as MU tallied 80 in the match

  • MU hit .110 (57-37-182) for the match while Tech hit .090 (50-34-178). Madonna had more assists (54-47) and digs (80-70), while both teams had five aces and the Warriors won the defensive battle at the net with 16 digs to Madonna's 10

INSIDE 1,200 WINS

  • Abraham's teams have won at least 30 games and astonishing 27 times with 13 seasons of 40 or more victories

  • The lowest win-total to date is 29 which has happened four times

  • In 32-seasons he has never had a losing campaign, in fact he's had just one season with a winning percentage below .600 and that was in 1994 (29-20, .592)

MILESTONES TO WATCH

  • Korth now has 4,245 career assists and sits 199 shy of Meg Paris (1995-96, 4,444) for fifth on the career list.

  • Korth is also three digs shy of 1,000 for her career

UP NEXT

  • The Blue and Gold hit the road for a three-match road trip beginning on Wednesday, Oct. 24 when they visit Lourdes for a 7 p.m. contest in Sylvania, Ohio.

  • Live coverage links will be posted at www.mucrusaders.com.

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